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Background
Unibail was founded in 1968 as a finance-leasing unit by a company called Worms & Cie. In 1991, Unibail started focusing on the property investment sector, and phased out involvement in lease financing. It built a property portfolio of close to 30 shopping centres across France – including the Forum des Halles and the arcade within CNIT – and substantial office properties in Paris and La Défense – including the Tour Ariane and the Paris Expo group of convention centres. Rodamco Europe formed in 1999 when Rodamco, a property investment fund set up by the Dutch asset management group Robeco in 1979, broke up into various independent listed companies covering different parts of the world. Rodamco Europe subsequently collected a portfolio primarily consisting of shopping centres and other retail spaces across 14 European countries, along with some office property in France and the Netherlands, acquiring smaller European rivals in the process.
2007–2017: Unibail-Rodamco
On April 10, 2007, Rodamco Europe announced an agreement to conduct a merger of equals with Unibail to create the largest publicly traded property company in Europe. The merger was confirmed on June 21, 2007, after Unibail announced the acquisition of 80% of Rodamco's shares, making its offer for the remainder unconditional. The merged entity took effect as a société anonyme under the new name Unibail-Rodamco on June 25, 2007.On June 1, 2011, Unibail-Rodamco hired former FNAC CEO Christophe Cuvillier as the new COO. In collaboration with CEO and Chairman of the Board Guillaume Poitrinal, he led the company to five years of growth in spite of tough economic conditions.In May 2015, Unibail revealed it had signed an agreement with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to sell its 46.1% stake in German shopping mall operator MFI AG for €394 million.
2018–present: Acquisition of Westfield
In December 2017, Unibail took over Westfield Corporation, which operated 35 shopping centres in the US and the UK, for a reported price of US$24.8 billion. The Australian shopping centres branded as Westfield and held by Scentre were not acquired by Unibail. The deal was completed in June 2018, and the shopping centres owned by Unibail-Rodamco before the merger had their names modified to have the Westfield brand, with 10 flagships starting in September 2019.In November 2020, Colin Dyer resigned as supervisory-board chairman after a shareholder meeting rejected the board's proposal to raise 3.5 billion euros . Dyer remained on the board but was replaced as chairman by former Unibail CEO Leon Bressler, one of a consortium of shareholders and investors who had opposed the capital increase and other proposed strategies. In January 2021, Jean-Marie Tritant was appointed Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer of the group.In April 2022, the company announced a plan to sell all of its U.S. malls—24 of them—within two years.
